Petunia: Person or Puppet?
by keep-me-posted
Summary: The story behind how Aunt Petunia came to be. MTR OneShot.


Just a short story I wrote to make sense of the reason Fritz is married to a puppet, lol. The explanation I made up isn't very...Disney-ish, but I hope you all still like it. I do not own Meet the Robinsons, just the DVD, lol!

* * *

Inside a small, one room (well two rooms if you count the bathroom) studio apartment, Fritz stood over his two children in bed, and kissed them each on the cheek. He smiled, "You know, they may be quite a handful during the day, but it's all worth it when you see their smiling faces dreaming peacefully in their beds."

An "mhm" echoed from across the room.

Fritz joined Petunia in their tiny full size bed. He yawned, "Well, goodnight, Petunia. I love you." And with that, he turned off the lamp near his side of the bed.

Less than 2.7 seconds later, Petunia clicked the light on near her. "What did you just say, Fritz?"

"I said 'I love you'," He repeated, fluffing his pillows.

Petunia sat up, "How can you say that?"

"Becau-"

"No, Fritz. What we have, it's not love. It's nothing near that! What we have is a huge mistake!"

"Sweetie-"

"Don't you 'sweetie' me! This is our life in a nutshell: We met, we went out for what? A couple months? And then, we got drunk, which began our big mistake."

Fritz didn't stop her. She went through this every other night. He just listened as politely as possible.

"Then, fearing your parents would kill you for getting me pregnant, you asked me to marry you. Then, fearing _my_ parents would kill me for getting pregnant in the first place, I said yes!" She rubbed her forehead. "That's what got us our second mistake!" She pointed near the far end of the room at Laszlo."

"Hey, he is not a mistake!" Fritz argued.

Petunia continued, "Then less than a year after that, we added on to the big mistake by having our third mistake!" She pointed an accusing finger at Tallulah this time.

Fritz yelled, "Now hold it right there!"

"No, Fritz. There's nothing wrong with what I'm saying. It's all true! Do I look like I enjoy this life? Living in this dump, thinking that someday, that piece of crud you call a boss, might actually promote you or give you a smidgen of a raise, so we can move out of this dump and maybe make our lives a nice little mistake. But no! We don't have a nice little mistake, we have a horrible huge mistake!" She angrily hopped out of bed and grabbed her coat.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going out, Fritz."

"Out for what? Ice cream?"

"No, not ice cream. I'm going…for a drive," Petunia said, buttoning up her coat.

"Okay," Fritz replied calmly. "Well, when will you be back?"

"Ha! I'm not coming back, Fritz."

He sat up, "What do you mean?"

"I've had it!" She ruffled her hair. "Had it! So, I'm going to do something about it and walk out on the three hugest mistakes I've ever made in my life!" Then, she slammed the door shut, without a single goodbye.

In the distance, Fritz heard a car door slam, then drive off into the night. Fritz eyes remained on the door, hoping that Petunia would come back in, apologize to him for acting silly and then kiss her children goodnight.

But that never happened, and eventually, Fritz fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Fritz was awakened by cold milk spilling on his face. He jumped up.

"Morning, Daddy!" Laszlo and Tallulah said in unison.

"Morning kids," He said, wiping milk off his chin. "You kids must be hungry." He got up and walked over to the kitchen side of the apartment.

"Daddy, where's Mommy?" Tallulah asked.

"Uh, she went out."

"When will she be back?" Laszlo put in.

"I'm not sure, son."

"Maybe she left a note," Tallulah suggested.

Fritz nodded, "Maybe." Fritz headed over to what they called their 'message center' and searched around for a note, to please his daughter. He shook his head, "Nope, no note."

"Oh…"

Laszlo didn't give up, "Well, maybe there just wasn't anything for her to write with!"

Fritz smiled, "Yeah, maybe that's it." He shoved the cup full of pens behind his back, so they couldn't see them. "So, breakfast?"

The kids nodded eagerly.

After breakfast, the children went to playing, and Fritz went over to his 'work station' where he carved in his spare time.

By this time, he should have been off to work, but he couldn't today because:

Petunia had taken there only car, and

There was no one to watch the kids.

So, instead, Fritz grabbed a piece of wood and a carving knife and blankly began carving. He looked over his shoulder at his children. Tallulah was roller skating on the skates Fritz had carved for her himself, and Laszlo was painting on the easel Fritz had carved for him.

When he looked back at his hands, he noticed he was subconsciously carving a woman's face. He took a closer look to find her was carving Petunia's face!

He dropped the wood and tool and asked the kids if they were hungry for lunch. Again, they nodded. After lunch, Fritz put Laszlo and Tallulah to bed for their afternoon nap.

He sat as his bed, looking nervously at his desk, and at the Petunia carving. After a while he couldn't take it anymore and he began to finish the Petunia replica.

Halfway through, Fritz noticed that Mini Petunia's face was squarer than the normal Petunia's face. But he didn't care. After all, regular Petunia wasn't there to insult his work.

When he finished, he realized he had made a puppet. Had he meant to do that? He did the finishing touches, like painting her hair with Laszlo's painting supplies, and taking some clothes from Tallulah's doll wardrobe to dress her.

By the time he finished his Petunia puppet, it was 3 AM. So, Fritz hid the puppet inside his desk drawer and headed off to bed.

* * *

The next morning, Fritz awoke to see his children had made breakfast on their own. He smiled.

Tallulah saw he had woken up, "Morning, Daddy! Is Mommy home yet?"

Fritz's body bolted from the bed. He ran over to his desk and pulled Petunia out of the drawer. Nervously, he placed the puppet on his hand. A perfect fit.

He felt silly doing this but he knew the children needed a mother, and he wasn't going to find one anytime soon.

"Yes," He started, walking over to the kitchen table, "Mommy is home."

"Where?" Laszlo insisted.

"Mommy's right here," Fritz said, pointing to puppet Petunia.

"Hi kids," Fritz said in his girliest voice, moving the mouth of Petunia.

"That's not Mommy!" Tallulah argued, crossing her little arms.

Fritz chuckled nervously, "Yes it is. I mean, she's a little under the weather right now, but-"

Petunia slapped his face, "What do you mean 'under the weather'? I'm fine!"

The children looked at each other, then back at Petunia. "Mommy!" They squealed.

Fritz smiled at Petunia, then at his kids. He sat and ate breakfast with them.

Over the next few weeks, it seemed Petunia took on her own personality. Although Fritz was obviously operating her, it didn't feel that way.

* * *

Then, one day in May, Fritz's brother Bud called.

"Hey, Fritz! How's life treating you?" Bud said over the phone line.

Fritz chuckled, "It's been better."

"Oh…well, I just wanted to wish my little Tallulah a Happy Birthday! How old she gonna be?"

"She's gonna be the big 3!" Fritz answered happily.

"Got anything exciting planned?"

"Uh, not really."

"Well, why not come over to our house!"

"Oh no, I don't want to intrude."

"Oh, it'll be no trouble! You know how to get here?"

"Well, that's the thing. I don't have any mode of transportation to get-"

"Say no more! I know exactly where you live and I'll be over in a jiffy!" Bud said, hanging up immediately.

Fritz hung up the phone, smiling and shaking his head. He headed over to Tallulah and Laszlo. "Hey, get ready kids. Uncle Bud will be here soon!"

"Yay!" They shouted, heading over to their dressers.

"What about me?" Petunia yelled. "Aren't I invited?"

"Oh, of course, sweetie," Fritz said.

Petunia huffed, "I want to wear a sparkling gown for my daughter's birthday."

"Sure thing, sweetheart." Fritz brought out the prettiest mini dress he could find, handed it to Petunia, and led her to the closet so she could change. She came out a minute later, looking stunning.

"Well?" She asked.

"It suits you well," Fritz replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Fritz opened his mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. He answered the door, "Bud!"

"Hey, little brother!" Bud patted his brother on the back and looked around the apartment. Bud didn't say anything, but you could tell by his face, he found the place upsetting.

He whispered something in Fritz's ear, and Fritz shook his head.

"I insist," Bud answered.

"I don't want to impose-"

"Well, I do."

Fritz smiled, "Okay."

Petunia cleared her throat.

"Oh, right. Bud, you remember Petunia."

"Of course!" He shook her hand and looked her up and down. "Did you lose weight?"

She tried to smile, "Oh you…"

The kids then ran up and hugged Bud.

"Hi kids! Hey, did your daddy tell you? You're gonna come live with me and your Aunt Lucille!"

The children's faces turned to Fritz, "Really?"

Fritz nodded, "So, go get packed up, and say goodbye to this home."

After they packed, they said there goodbye's and headed out to Bud's car.

"I owe you one brother," Fritz said to Bud, heading out the door.

"Actually you owe me four," Bud chuckled, "But who's keeping count?"

"He owes me nine!" Petunia exclaimed.

Bud laughed again, and followed everyone out the door.

* * *

Likey? I hope so! R&R! =)


End file.
